Manuel Rivas
Illustration — Manuel Rivas, 2022 Manuel Rivas Barrós (born 24 October 1957 in A Coruña, Galicia) is a Galician writer, poet and journalist.
Also recorded as Manolo Rivas
Manuel Rivas

Elena Ternovaja · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1957 · Monte Alto.
- Nationality
- Spain
- Occupation
- journalist · screenwriter · writer · film director · essayist · poet
- Fields
- poetry · journalism · essay
- Education
- Complutense University of Madrid · IES Monelos
- Known for
- The Carpenter's Pencil · Books burn badly
- Honours
- Spanish Critics' Prize for Best Galician Language Prose · Premio Torrente Ballester · National Novel Prize
- Languages
- Spanish · Galician
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2320966 · wikipedia · Manuel Rivas
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Biography
Biography
Manuel Rivas studied at Complutense University of Madrid and IES Monelos. The recorded working language is Spanish and Galician. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are poetry, journalism and essay. Residence is recorded at Vimianzo. Employment is recorded with El País. Works named in the authority record are The Carpenter's Pencil and Books burn badly. Distinctions recorded are Spanish Critics' Prize for Best Galician Language Prose, Premio Torrente Ballester and National Novel Prize.
Manuel Rivas Barrós began his writing career at the age of 15. He has written articles and literary essays for Spanish newspapers and television stations including Television de Galicia, El Ideal Gallego, La Voz de Galicia, El País, and was the sub-editor of Diario 16 in Galicia. He was a founding member of Greenpeace Spain and played an important role during the 2002 Prestige oil spill near the Galician coast.
Documentary record
Manuel Rivas appears in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as a writer, poet, essayist and journalist (born 1957). The birth of Manuel Rivas is recorded in 1957 in La Coruña.
Work
Work
As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book ¿Que me queres, amor?, a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film La lengua de las mariposas. His 1998 novel O lapis do carpinteiro has been published in nine countries and is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as O lapis do carpinteiro.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1957
Manuel Rivas born at Monte Alto.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Vimianzo
Residences
Monte Alto.
Birth place
Awards
• Galician Critics Prize • Spanish National Narrative Prize • Spanish Critic Prize • Prize of the Belgian section of Amnesty International • Torrente Ballester Prize • Arcebispo Xoán de San Clemente e o da Crítica Prize • ONCE Prize - Galicia and Solidarity • Xarmenta 2007
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Manuel Rivas, revision 1357028491 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rivas, Manuel escritores.org, 27 November 2013
- 2.La entrevista - Manuel Rivas. Radio y Televisión Española. 10 February 2010.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 28
- Libro de Entroido (1979)
- Balada nas praias do Oeste (1985)
- Mohicania (1987)
- Ningún cisne (1989)
- O pobo da noite (1996)
- Do descoñecido ao descoñecido. Obra poética (1980-2003) (2003)
- El pueblo de la noche y mohicania revisitada. (2004)
- A desaparición da neve. (2009)
- A boca da terra. (2015)
- Todo ben (1985)
- Un millón de vacas (1989), premio da Crítica
- Os comedores de patacas (1991)
- En salvaxe compaña (1994)
- ¿Que me queres, amor? (1996)
- Bala perdida (1997)
- O lapis do carpinteiro (1998) ("The Carpenter's Pencil" (2003))
- Ela, maldita alma (1999)
- A man dos paíños (2000)
- Galicia, Galicia (2001)
- As chamadas perdidas (2002)
- Contos de Nadal (2004)
- Os libros arden mal (2006) ("Books Burn Badly" (2010))
- Todo é silencio (2010) ("All is Silence" (2013))
- As voces baixas (2012) ("The Low Voices" (2017))
- "El bonsái atlántico" (1994)
- "El periodismo es un cuento" (1997)
- "Toxos e flores" (1999)
- "Galicia, Galicia" (2001)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q2320966: Manuel RivasWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Manuel PaynoAuthor
- Manuel Pérez ParedesAuthor
- Manuel PhilesAuthor
- Manuel PuigAuthor
- Manuel Rodriguez LopezAuthor
- Manuel RojasAuthor
- Manuel RuedaAuthor
- Manuel RuiAuthor
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